Taxi Driver Online

Who knew?

Don't know if this is just about apps, or if he's calling for wider reform, but it's certainly the app thing that's highlighted below.

But, as a reminder, the booking office licensing tier was only introduced in Scotland in 2009, and prior to that only cars and drivers were licensed. But when it was introduced, the legislation applied equally to HCs and PHVs.

And, call my a cynic, but the quotes from the licensing convener sound more like official-speak than licensing councillor

(At least two obvious errors below, where I've inserted the square brackets. First is the second paragraph, which is either incomplete, or the word 'are' shouldn't be there

Also looks like there's a word missing from the penultimate paragraph, so I stuck my neck out and assumed it's 'fit' )


Glasgow licensing chief warns taxi and private hire rules 'no longer fit for purpose'

https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glas ... i-25816318

Councillor Alex Wilson has been backed by other local authorities in his call for the government to update Scotland’s licensing rules which he says are "no longer fit for purpose".

Rules to regulate the taxi and private hire firms are “no longer fit for purpose” Glasgow’s licensing chief has warned.

Councillor Alex Wilson is urging the government to update Scotland’s licensing rules and legislation in order to better regulate the growth in apps used to book taxis and private hire cars are [...]

He recently held a summit in Glasgow where he invited all Scottish local authorities to look at the rules and regulations which act as a guidance to licensing boards and committees across the country.

And it was widely agreed that new powers are needed by licensing committees to regulate phone apps for booking taxis and private hire cars.

At present a booking office licence is required for the use of a premises for the carrying on a business which consists to any extent of the taking of bookings by means of any communication from members of the public for the hire of a taxi or private hire car.

Usually this has meant call handlers working phones to take bookings. But the development in smartphone technology has prompted a shift away from the traditional phone call with more and more operators now providing an on-line booking system as part of their service.

Often the computer servers that support these phone apps are based in separate buildings not included within the licence.

Councillor Wilson believes it is now necessary for booking office legislation which is “no longer fit for purpose” to be revised to reflect the change in how the taxi and private hire trade is working and ensure regulation continues to be effective.

He said: “The booking office licence came in 2009 at a time when there was widespread concern about the conduct of some companies that ran taxi and private hire car services.

“It has been a very useful measure that’s allowed licensing committees to make sure those in charge are fit and proper people and that their services are being operated appropriately. The booking office licence also ensures there is an overall accountability for the operation of a taxi and private hire service and that the licence holder has a responsibility to provide relevant information if any incident requires to be investigated.

“But times change and the growth of phone app bookings is transforming how taxi and private hire services are delivered in Glasgow and elsewhere. The recent summit in Glasgow agreed licensing legislation must respond to this shift in culture and become future proofed on the surge towards phone app booking systems. Public safety is always the focus of the licensing system and full oversight of licence holder activity is essential for ensuring standards continue to be met.”

This is the second time councillor Wilson has held a summit to discuss licensing laws and has now indicated he will seek further talks with the Scottish Government in the New Year.

He continued: “In 2019 pre Covid, I held a summit in Glasgow and invited all the local authorities into the city to try and get uniformity within licensing.

“But everything was put on hold as a result of the pandemic, so I decided to revisit the issue a few weeks ago and invited all Scottish local authorities to visit Glasgow.

“We all agreed that the licensing act is no longer [fit] for purpose and we wish to challenge the Scottish Government. In the new year we are hoping to go through to the Scottish Government and speak to MSP Elena Whitham, the Minister for Community Safety of Scotland.

“This is all in the interest of public health and safety. It will help the licensed trade including taxi drivers.”

Aye, so the previous minister resigned last month over, for example, allowing people with penises to call themselves women.

For instance, if they've been charged with rape then they'd have to be referred to as 'she' and 'her' in court, and 'she' could serve 'her' sentence for rape in a women's jail

Which the new minister obviously supports. Reassuring

I'm guessing the legislation works now else the courts would be full of prosecutions?

The issue down here is cross border and that needs sorting, but laws in Scotland forbid all that stuff. So one has to wonder what is exactly the problem.

Maybe the councillor could give us all an idea of what he believes needs changing, and to what, rather than just saying things need to change.

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IDFIMH

Maybe he's interested in changing the law in Scotland to match the rest of the UK in exchange for a nice donation to election funds.

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lack of modern legislation is the iceberg sinking the titanic of the transport sector

Yes, it's all a bit wooly, but reading between the lines it seems to be about unmanned offices and suchlike.

And it echoes the hoohah surrounding the objections to new licences in Glasgow a year or so ago - recall that they hired fancy lawyers who provided a lot of bluster, but nothing much concrete in terms of illegalities and the like.

So, for good or bad, it's basically the usual anti-app stuff from the mainstream trade, maybe chanelled via officials and parotted by the licensing chair.

That's not to say the legislation couldn't do with a rewrite, but this particular intervention smacks more of the usual vested interests and special pleading.

(For example, there's still the plating exemption for contracts of 24 hours, which as those who knew the old 7-day exemption down south could imagine, is very open to abuse. And there's a lot of abuse of the cross-border working ban, apparently, as you might imagine in an area like Greater Glasgow encompassing several local authorities - Glasgow Airport is in another council area, for example.)

So is he against unmanned offices, or does he want someone there all the time, and for what reason?

They have a national call center that deals with complaints and inquiries from licensing officers.

For what it's worth I'm told Uber deals with issues raised by licensing officers as good, if not better than all other operators.

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IDFIMH

Yes, Sussex, it all lacks specifics a bit, and it looks like the same kind of thing that was highlighted by the lawyers etc when the trade wasted £thousands objecting to new licences for app platforms in Glasgow:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=37926&p=419966

the legislation doesnt work because no one enforces it
police dont want to know
enforcement dissapear at midnight,and thats when all the shenanigans begin
the pirates know the marshalls have no powers so just ignore them


cross border rife here too,the pirates pay scant attention to the law,city flooded every weekend with out of town cars pirating and glasgow p/h doing the same
the councillor wants the law enforced,nothing more

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i started out with nothing and ive still got most of it left

Can't complain about wanting existing laws enforced, but if they aren't then it seems a tad daft to want new ones. Which I assume will be equally ignored.

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IDFIMH

alas ,youre probably correct

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i started out with nothing and ive still got most of it left